The History of Invention of Portable Lighting Tower
Who invented the first cartable lighting tower?
This depends mostly on your definition of a lighting tower. A broad definition could include something as straightforward as a candle or primitive torch placed on a tall mast to cast light over a big area, such a device has likely been used since the Stone Age.
In more recent history it’s un-clear as to when the modern lighting tower was invented. Researching patent applications suggests that machines not dissimilar to today’s lighting towers were being designed in the 1930s.
A patent from 1932 shows what might be the first machine of its kind filed in US patent 1934576 and is named as a transportable floodlighting unit for airports.
The patent describes a frame with four wheels at each corner ( permitting the machine to be towed ), a generator powered by an engine and one giant electrical lamp at every end of the auto. The machine is designed to be used to provide on-demand lighting of alternative landing sites at airports on occasions when the main landing areas are out of use because of adverse weather conditions.
More recently in 1980 a US patent 4181929 was filed for a Portable illuminating tower that illustrates a much nearer resemblance to modern day lighting towers.
The US patent 4181929 describes a portable lighting tower composed of a base frame ( which contains an engine and generator ) and a vertical, extending, hydraulic mast with two electrical lamps at the higher end. The unit does not permit towing but instead is light and compact enough to be easily transported. The design also includes jack legs that are now common place on all lighting towers to guarantee stability in high winds.
This is reasonably a serious development in the history of the lighting tower as this patent principally forms the root of most current day lighting towers which contain similar elements like a base that stores the engine and generator along with an extending hydraulic mast that supports the luminaries.
The following patent was filed later on in the same year of 1980 but was for a solution to provide more intensive illumination. The US patent 4220981 describes a framework with 4 wheels to hold the generator and engine and 2 folding telescopic masts at opposite corners of the frame that each hold a cluster of electric lamps. The design also allows for the masts to be revolved enabling finer control of the area of illumination. By offering 2 masts the light tower also allows for illumination over just about all sides of the machine. This isn’t like prior light towers which generally offer illumination on just one side of the machine.
Since 1980 substantial progress has been made by lighting tower makers. Though the overall design has varied small from those seen in the 1980s many improvements have been made to make lighting towers simpler to use and more environmentally friendly.
The Hylite lighting tower from Taylor Construction Plant includes Adjustabeam technology which permits the user to adjust the direction of each lamp from the ground. The TCP Hylite also has a flexible framework design which allows almost any generator to be used to power the light heads.
The TCP Ecolite lighting tower in addition has damaged new ground by using highly cost-effective lamps to reduce fuel consumption significantly, which is very timely seeing as global warming is becoming a more and more prevalent concern.
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Tags: lighting, lighting tower